“I feel good spirits”
After the 2022 season, the Lotte Giants showed a slightly different move from previous years. Lotte, which focused on nurturing prospects rather than investing in immediate results, entered the FA (free player contract) market after a long time and properly showed off the aspect of a ‘big hand’. Lotte signed catcher Yoo Kang-nam for 4 years and a total of 8 billion won, and Roh Jin-hyeok for 4 years and 5 billion won, strengthening the ‘center line’ that has been pointed out as a weakness.
Lotte’s moves were not limited to the FA market. Over the past few years, Lotte, which has often put an end to accompaniment with veteran players to make room for young players to play, has Cha Woo-chan, who won 112 wins in the KBO league, Kim Sang-soo, who was the ‘Hold King’, and Yoon Myeong-jun and Shin-jeong. He embraced rock and made the depth of the pitching staff thicker.
The effect of recruiting veterans was evident from the beginning of the season. At the start of the season, Lotte suffered a headache as Lee Min-seok was taken off the line due to an elbow injury, Choi Jun-yong, who had been in charge of the ‘waist’ until last year, and Kim Do-gyu were sluggish. But here the dignity of the veterans shone.
The presence of Kim Sang-soo, Yoon Myung-jun, and Shin Jeong-rak, who were newly wearing Lotte uniforms this year, began to stand out. While Lotte won 9 consecutive victories from the Sajik KIA Tigers match last month to the Gwangju KIA match on the 2nd of this month, Kim Sang-soo took the mound in 7 games and got 1 win, 2 holds and 1 save, Myung-Jun Yoon had 2 holds in 3 games, and Jeong-Rak Shin had 1 win in 1 game. recorded and contributed greatly to the upward trend.
In the case of Yoon Myung-Jun and Shin Jeong-Rak, respectively, in the game on the 3rd, they scored a run in relief, and the average ERA was 6.43 and 4.50, respectively, which is not very good, but it is obviously a great help to the team. In the case of Kim Sang-soo, the face seems to have regained the image of the heyday when he was the ‘Hold King’. He recorded 2 wins, 4 holds, 1 save and an average ERA of 0.79 in 15 games, and took the place of Lotte’s ‘Pil Seung-jo’.
On the 6th, coach Larry Sutton was asked to pick the MVP for April, “Na Kyun-an showed a good performance, but whenever bullpen pitchers came out, they played their roles so well. Every day, new veteran players play their roles, Another veteran player came out and led the month well,” he said. I didn’t name them, but they included those who showed good form in the bullpen.
Catcher Yoo Kang-nam cited the bullpen as the driving force behind the uptrend in April. Among them, three veterans, Kim Sang-soo, Yoon Myeong-jun, and Shin Jeong-rak, raised their thumbs. Yoo Kang-nam, whom we met on the 6th, said, “I think (Kim) Won-joong and (former) Seung-min hyung showed good pitches with good pitches. )Three seniors, including Jung Rak-hyung, blocked it well in a really important game in the middle. There were three veteran brothers on the rise,” he emphasized.
In fact, the pitchers took all the grades, but it was possible because the teamwork with catcher Kang-Nam Yoo was good. The result of research and effort to identify the strengths of pitchers and make the most of them. However, Kangnam Yoo praised the veterans rather than himself. He explained, “Jung-rak hyung’s style has changed a lot from when he was at LG, but he has a sense of stability in other parts such as curve, changeup, and fastball control. He is operating in a different style than before.”
Continuing, Yoo Kang-nam said,스포츠토토 “Sang-soo hyung’s average ERA is now in the 0-point range. He is doing very well. . There is no pitch that I can’t throw,” he said. “Myung-jun hyung hasn’t been good lately, but he’s better than I thought in terms of pitch. Looking at the three hyungs, I can feel the eagerness and good spirit of ‘I have to solve it’ on the mound. Thanks to you I think I’m excited too,” he said.
It is not certain that the performance of three veterans, Kim Sang-soo, Yoon Myeong-jun, and Shin Jeong-rak, will be maintained until the end of the season. But what is clear is that it has been a huge boost to the rise at the beginning of the season, and it seems clear that it will help in the future.